The Staff of Serapis- change in POV
by Sunnyflight170
Summary: Told you it could be expected soon! I guess you could call it a sequel to The Son of Sobek, change in POV. if you don't know what I'm talking about, you better read that one first.


**I can't say much. The story idea is the only thing I own, so…**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own Annabeth or Sadie or the story, they all belong to Rick Riordan!**

…

"Any idea what it is?" I asked Cleo, our librarian at Brooklyn House.

Cleo studied the dog sculpture, poking it in several spots.

"I don't notice anything super magical about it, but not all ancient relics have magic. My guess is it's part of a statue of some sort. Let me look, maybe I can find it." Cleo turned away from the statue, and started searching. Felix, one of our magicians, appeared in the doorway.

"Hey Cleo? I was wondering if you have a book about arctic animals for- uh, is your statue supposed to do that?" Felix asked, pointing at the table where the dog statue was sitting.

Cleo and I turned, and saw the dog shaking around, like it was waking up from a nap. He snarled at us, and leapt for the door.

"Stop it!" I yelled, grabbing my wand.

Felix grabbed his own wand, and summoned some penguins from antartica, then directed them to attack. The formerly-stone dog ignored them, and ran through the magical wards guarding the library. It's always a good idea, since we never know when a magical deity could break into the house. But they didn't seem to affect the dog at all.

I pointed my wand at the dog and yelled, " _Hah-ri!"_ the dog didn't even falter. My spell didn't affect it at all. Unfortunately, my spell affected everyone else. Cleo, Felix, and his penguins dropped to the ground, fast asleep. They were followed by Jaz, Walt, and my brother, Carter. Looks like I was on my own.

I followed the dog through Brooklyn, occasionally throwing spells at the dog. It parked at me, and darted around the corner. I followed, but I couldn't see it anywhere. I listened, and heard angry barking, and someone yelled, "beat it, you stupid mutt!" it came from the stairs of the subway. A darted down the stairs, pointed my wand at the dog and yelled " _Drowah!"_

The mortals screamed and fled. They probably didn't see exactly was was going on, but they knew something was wrong.

Once again, my spell had no effect. The dog barked at me angrily, and darted around my legs. Giving up on magic, I tried to hit it with my staff. I managed to hit it across the snout, and the end of my staff flared with light. The dog hurtled backwards, straight through a broken window into the far end of another subway car. I followed it, leaping through the subway doors just as the closed.

The train pulled away from the station, but I was more focused on what looked like a wolf and a lion shoved into a crab's shell, and the blonde haired girl behind it. I wasn't sure who was more surprised to see me. I saw the girl scan my outfit in the same way Zia did when she was trying to assess the danger level in a situation. Her gaze flew across my staff and wand, before meeting my eyes. She looked startled.

I sighed, breaking the silence. Someone had to do it, and it obviously wasn't going to be the new girl.

"Right." I blew a strand of purple hair out of my face. "Because my day wasn't barmy enough already."

The dog and the crab hybrid were staring at each other in excitement. The dog howled, and the crab lunged forward.

"Stop them!" the new girl yelled. She leaped onto the crabs back, and its front paws collapsed from the extra weight.

I raised my staff and yelled, " _Mar!"_

A series of golden hieroglyphs blazed in the air, and the dog staggered back, retching.

The girl struggled to keep the crab down, but the beast was twice her weight. It pushed up on its forelegs, trying to throw her. Both heads turned to snap at her face. The girl managed to slip off her backpack, and smacked it in the lion's head, then put one strap through the wolf's jaws and pulled it. The wolf howled in anger.

Meanwhile, the train burst into the sunlight. We rattled along the elevated rails of Queens, fresh air blowing through the broken windows and glittering bits of glass dancing across the seats.

The dog shook off my retching spell, and lunged at me. I yanked out my wand and blasted the monster with a flash of light.

The girl was trying her best to hold the crab back, but she was starting to look sick. A red aura I hadn't noticed before surrounded them both, and it seemed to be making the girl weaker. My stomach twisted a little just looking at it. I looked away, turning to look at the dog just as it lunged again and knocked me down.

The girl lost her grip on the crab, and it threw her. The girl's head slammed on the edge of a seat, and I winced in sympathy. But I didn't have time to help, because the crab roared in triumph and a wave of red-hot energy rippled through the car. The train pitched sideways, and I was thrown into the air.

I landed on the ground, rolling sideways. It wasn't my best landing, but one good thing came out of it. I'd landed on the dog, enabling it to move. It wasn't very happy about the arrangement and growled at me angrily. I grabbed a rope from my bag, and tossed it at the dog yelling " _Tas!"_ The dog yelped, and when I looked at it, it had my rope wrapped its muzzle and paws. It didn't look happy.

I got to my feet and looked around, spotting the blonde girl laying in some weeds a few feet away. I decided I couldn't leave her here to be questioned by the police. After all, she couldn't be a mortal, or the explosion would have killed her. I walked over, and tugged on her arm.

"Up you come. We have to move," I told her. She opened her eyes, and sat up. Her eyes were unfocused. As her eyes cleared, she took in the subway train, that had now fallen off the track. Realization dawned on her face.

"Yoo-hoo." I shook the girl's shoulder. "I know you're probably in shock, but we need to go. I don't fancy being questioned by the police with this thing in tow," I said, moving to the left and tugging on the dog. It flopped around, growling.

The girl stared at me. "Who are you?" she demanded.

I smiled a little. I liked this girl's demeanor. "Usually I don't give my name to strangers. Magical vulnerabilities and all that. But I have to respect someone who fights a two-headed monster with nothing but a rucksack." I held out my hand. "Sadie Kane."

"Annabeth Chase."

We shook.

"Lovely to meet you, Annabeth," I said. "Now, let's take our dog for a walk, shall we?"

We'd left just in time. While we'd been talking, emergency vehicles had surrounded the train wreck, and a crowd of spectators gathered from the nearby apartment buildings.

Annabeth still looked a little sick, but she she helped me drag the dog into the sand dunes. I took pleasure in pulling the dog over as many rocks and broken bottles as I could find.

Doggy didn't seem to like that. He snarled, and his red aura glowed brightly, and my rope dimmed a little.

We reached a derelict ice-cream truck half sunken in the dunes, and I heard Annabeth's stomach growl.

"Gotta stop," she muttered. she dropped her end of the rope and staggered over to the truck, then slid down with her back against the passenger's door.

I sat cross-legged, facing her. I rummaged around in my backpack and brought out a healing potion that Jaz had given me.

"Here." I handed it to Annabeth. "It's yummy. Drink."

Annabeth studied the vial warily. "Uh … this won't unleash any golden flashes of _ka-bam_ in my face?"

I snorted. "It's just a healing potion, silly. A friend of mine, Jaz, brews the best in the world."

Annabeth still hesitated. "I'm not sure I should try," she said. "I'm… not like you."

" _No one_ is like me," I agreed. "My amazingness is unique. But if you mean you're not a magician, well, I can _see_ that. Usually we fight with staff and wand." I patted my own staff and wand sitting next to me. "Still, I think my potions should work on you. You wrestled a monster. You survived that train wreck. You _can't_ be normal."

Annabeth laughed weakly. "No, I'm definitely not normal. I'm a demigod."

"Ah." I tapped my fingers on my wand, searching my brain and coming up empty. "Sorry, that's a new one on me. A _demon god_?"

'Demigod,' Annabeth corrected. 'Half god, half mortal.'

"Oh, right." I exhaled, relieved. This I was used to. "I've hosted Isis in my head quite a few times. Who's your special friend?"

'My – no. I don't _host_ anybody. My mother is a Greek goddess, Athena."

I blinked at her. "Your mother."

"'Yeah."

"A goddess. A _Greek_ goddess." I felt my face go pale. See, I'm used to people _hosting_ the gods. My brother hosted Horus, My boyfriend is hosting Anubis, my friend Zia hosted Ra, and yours truly hosted Isis. But to be the child of a god? That was completely new territory.

"Yeah." Annabeth noticed my reaction. "I guess you don't have that kind of thing, um, where you come from."

"Brooklyn?" I asked, pretending to think. "No. I don't think so. Or London. Or Los Angeles. I don't recall meeting Greek _demigods_ in any of those places. Still, when one has dealt with magical baboons, goddess cats and dwarfs in Speedos, one can't be surprised very easily."

Annabeth looked extremely confused. "Dwarfs in Speedos?"

"Mmm." I glanced at the dog, who was still writhing in its golden bonds. "But here's the rub. A few months ago my mum gave me a warning. She told me to beware of other gods and other types of magic."

Annabeth glanced at the vial in her hand, then back at me. "Other gods. You mentioned Isis. She's the Egyptian goddess of magic. But … she's not your mom?"

"No," I said. "I mean, yes. Isis is the goddess of Egyptian magic. But she's not my mum. My mum's a ghost. Well … she was a magician in the House of Life, like me, but then she died, so –"

"Just a sec." Annabeth looked like she was going to be sick. She uncorked the potion, and downed it in one gulp. Her eyes brightened, and the color came back into my face. "Wow," she said, sounding surprised.

"Told you." I smirked. "Jaz is quite the apothecary."

"So you were saying… House of Life. Egyptian magic. You're like the kid my boyfriend met."

My smile faded. "Your boyfriend… met someone like me? Another magician?"

A few feet away, the dog snarled and struggled. I ignored it, watching Annabeth. Annabeth looked at the rope worriedly before turning back to me.

"This was a few weeks ago," she said. "Percy told me a crazy story about meeting a boy out near Moriches Bay. Apparently this kid used hieroglyphs to cast spells. He helped Percy battle a big crocodile monster."

'The Son of Sobek!' I blurted out. "But my _brother_ battled that monster. He didn't say anything about –"

"Is your brother's name Carter?" Annabeth asked.

I scowled in anger, remembering the day Carter had come back. He had described the battle, just saying how someone had put a necklace around the baby crocodile but he didn't know who. He said he'd defeated it, and then left to study in the library.

"As of this moment," I growled out loud, "my brother's name is Punching Bag. Seems he hasn't been telling me everything."

"Ah." Annabeth was looking up at my head nervously. "Awkward. Sorry."

"Don't be," I said cheerfully. "I'll rather enjoy bashing my brother's face in. But first tell me everything – about yourself, demigods, Greeks and whatever it might have to do with our evil canine friend here."

Annabeth described Camp Half-Blood, a camp she went to in summer. It was filled with other children of the gods. Apparently, there were as many of them as there were magicians.

She recounted some of her adventures battling gods and giants and Titans. She explained how she'd spotted the two-headed lion-wolf-crab at the West Fourth Street station and decided to follow it.

"So here I am," Annabeth summed up.

my mouth quivered. I tried to say something, but I couldn't help it. I broke down in a fit of laughter.

Annabeth frowned. "Did I say something funny?"

"No, no…" I snorted. "Well… it is a _bit_ funny. I mean, we're sitting on the beach talking about Greek gods. And a camp for demigods, and –"

"It's all true!"

"Oh, I believe you. It's too ridiculous _not_ to be true. It's just that each time my world gets stranger, I think: _Right. We're at maximum oddness now. At least I know the full extent of it._ First, I find out my brother and I are descended from the pharaohs and have magic powers. All right. No problem. Then I find out my dead father has merged his soul with Osiris and become the lord of the dead. Brilliant! Why not? Then my uncle takes over the House of Life and oversees hundreds of magicians around the world. Then my boyfriend turns out to be a hybrid magician boy/immortal god of funerals. And all the while I'm thinking, _Of course! Keep calm and carry on! I've adjusted!_ And then you come along on a random Thursday, la-di-da, and say, ' _Oh, by the way, Egyptian gods are just one small part of the cosmic absurdity. We've also got the Greeks to worry about! Hooray!'"_

Annabeth blinked in confusion, but cracked a small smile and laughing a little. "Okay," she admitted. "It all sounds a little crazy, but I guess it makes sense. My teacher Chiron… for years he's been telling me that ancient gods are immortal because they're part of the fabric of civilization. If Greek gods can stick around all these millennia, why not the Egyptians?"

"The more the merrier," I agreed. "But, erm, what about this little doggie?" I picked up a seashell and bounced it off the head of the dog. It snarled at me in irritation. People tended to do that to me a lot. "One minute it's sitting on the table in our library – a harmless artefact, a stone fragment from some statue, we think. The next minute it comes to life and breaks out of Brooklyn House. It shreds our magical wards, ploughs through Felix's penguins and shrugs off my spells like they're nothing."

"Penguins?" Annabeth shook her head. "No. Forget I asked." she looked down at the dog, studying it. "Will those ropes hold?" she asked. "They look like they're weakening."

"No worries," I assured her. "Those ropes have held gods before. And not small gods, mind you. Extra-large ones."

'Um, okay. So you said the dog was part of a statue. Any idea what statue?'

"None." I shrugged. "Cleo, our librarian, was just researching that question when Fido here woke up."

'But it has to be connected to the other monster – the wolf and the lion heads. I got the impression they'd just come to life, too. They'd fused together and weren't used to working as a team. They got on that train searching for something – probably this dog.'

I fiddled with my silver _tyet_ amulet. "A monster with three heads: a lion, a wolf and a dog. All sticking out of… what was that conical thing? A shell? A torch?"

"It's a scepter," Annabeth blurted out. "I don't remember which god held it, but the three-headed staff was his symbol. He was … Greek, I think, but he was also from somewhere in Egypt–"

"Alexandria," I guessed.

Annabeth stared at me. "How do you know?"

"Well, granted, I'm not a history nut like my brother, but I _have_ been to Alexandria. I recall something about it being the capital when the Greeks ruled Egypt. Alexander the Great, wasn't it?"

Annabeth nodded. "That's right. Alexander conquered Egypt and, after he died, his general Ptolemy took over. He wanted the Egyptians to accept him as their pharaoh, so he mashed the Egyptian gods and Greek gods together and made up new ones."

"Sounds messy," I said. "I prefer my gods unmashed."

"But there was one god in particular… I can't remember his name. The three-headed creature was at the top of his scepter…"

"Rather large sceptre," I noted. "I don't fancy meeting the bloke who could carry it around."

"Oh, gods." Annabeth sat up. "That's it! The staff isn't just trying to reassemble itself– it's trying to find its master."

I scowled. "I'm not in favour of that at all. We need to make sure–"

The dog howled, and the magical ropes exploded like a grenade, spraying the beach with golden shrapnel.

The blast knocked me across the dunes, and the breath was knocked out of me. I closed my eyes and groaned in pain.

'Sadie!' I heard Annabeth yell. I sat up, and spat sand out of my mouth. There was seaweed in my hair, and my backpack was wrapped around my foot. Annabeth was dazed and covered in sand, but otherwise she looked better then me.

"Stupid Fido!" I snarled. "No dog biscuits for him!" I noticed the knife Annabeth was holding, and frowned. "Where did you get that?"

"Um… it's your wand," Annabeth said. "I picked it up and… I don't know. It just changed into the kind of dagger I usually use."

"Huh. Well, magic items do have a mind of their own. Keep it. I've got more at home. Now, which way did Fido go?"

"Over there." Annabeth pointed with her new blade.

Sadie peered inland, letting my vision slip into the duat, and looked in the direction Annabeth had pointed in. a huge building there was red, and more red light was being sucked into it. My eyes widened. "Oh … right. Towards the storm. That's new."

Annabeth followed my gaze. "What storm?"

"You don't see it?" I asked. "Hold on." I got my backpack off my boot and rummaged through my supplies. I brought out another ceramic vial, pulled off the lid and scooped out some pink goo. "Let me smear this on your eyelids."

"Wow, that sounds like an automatic _no_."

"Don't be squeamish. It's perfectly harmless … well, for magicians. Probably for demigods, too."

Annabeth didn't look reassured, but she closed her eyes. I smeared on the goop.

"Right. You can look now."

Annabeth opened her eyes and gasped. She looked a little dizzy. "Do– do you see like this all the time?"

I snorted. "Gods of Egypt, no! It would drive me bonkers. I have to concentrate to see the Duat. That's what you're doing – peering into the magical side of the world."

"I…" Annabeth faltered. She sat down hard in the sand. "I don't know what to think."

"Don't think," I advised. "Breathe. Your eyes will adjust. It's rather like swimming. If you let your body take over, you'll know what to do instinctively. Panic, and you'll drown."

Annabeth looked from the building, to me, to where the dog was lying, and back to the building. She visibly relaxed, the tension leaving her shoulders.

"That apartment building," she said. "It's attracting red light from all over the place."

"Exactly," I said. "In Egyptian magic, red is bad. It means evil and chaos."

"So that's where the dog monster is heading," Annabeth guessed. "To merge with the other piece of the scepter–"

"And to find its master, I'd wager." I waited for Annabeth to get up, but she didn't. She looked afraid. I offered her my hand, my eyes filled with sympathy.

"Look, I know it's a lot, but nothing has changed. You're still the same tough-skinned, rucksack-wielding demigod you've always been. And now you have a lovely dagger as well."

Annabeth blushed. "Yeah. Yeah, of course." she accepted my hand. "Let's go find a god."

…

A chain-link fence ringed the building, but we squeezed through a gap and picked our way across a field of spear grass and broken concrete.

I didn't need to see into _the_ _duat_ to know the place was filled with bad magic. Up close, the red glow in the windows was even more radiant. The plywood rattled. The brick walls groaned. Hieroglyphic birds and stick figures formed in the air and floated inside. Even the graffiti seemed to vibrate on the walls, as if the symbols were trying to come alive. The power from the building was pulling on me, and I felt like it was trying to drag me toward it.

Annabeth gripped her dagger's hilt. "Wish I knew what we were dealing with," she muttered as we crept towards the building. "I like to do research first– arm myself with knowledge."

I rolled my eyes and grunted. "You sound like my brother. Tell me, how often do monsters give you the luxury of Googling them before they attack?"

"Never," Annabeth admitted.

"Well, there you are. Carter– he would love to spend hours in the library, reading up on every hostile demon we might face, highlighting the important bits and making flash cards for me to study. Sadly, when demons attack, they don't give us any warning, and they rarely bother to identify themselves."

"So what's your standard operating procedure?"

"Forge ahead," I told her. "Think on my feet. When necessary, blast enemies into teeny-tiny bits."

"Great. You'd fit right in with my friends."

"I'll take that as a compliment. That door, you think?"

A set of steps led to a basement entrance. A single two-by-four was nailed across the doorway in a half-hearted attempt to keep out trespassers, but the door itself was slightly ajar. I trotted down the steps and slipped inside.

The whole interior of the building was a cavernous shell, thirty storeys tall, swirling with a maelstrom of bricks, pipes, boards and other debris, along with glowing symbols, hieroglyphs and red neon tufts of energy. The scene was both terrifying and beautiful– as if a tornado had been caught, illuminated from within and put on permanent display.

We were in a shallow stairwell– a kind of trench in the concrete. If we'd walked into the storm on ground level, we would've been ripped to shreds. It made me grateful I'd chosen the door I had.

"Up there," I whispered, pointing to the top of the building. The floor was still intact, and there was a guy standing standing at the precipice, his arms spread as if welcoming the storm.

"What's he doing?" I murmured.

Annabeth flinched as a helix of copper pipes spun a few inches over her head. She stared into the rubble, and realization dawned on her face. "He's building something."

"Building what, a disaster?" I asked. "This place reminds me of the Realm of Chaos. And, believe me, that was not my favorite holiday spot." well, I did have fond memories there. But the place itself was a huge mass of complete chaos, like the building we were in now.

Annabeth looked at me, her face a mix of surprised and impressed.

"The storm isn't completely random," she said, shaking it off. "See there? And there? Bits of material are coming together, forming some kind of structure inside the building."

I frowned. "Looks like bricks in a blender to me."

"He's cannibalizing the building," Annabeth said. "I don't know how long the outer walls will last."

I swore under my breath. If my gran could here me, she'd wash my mouth out with soap for a week. "Please tell me he's not building a pyramid. Anything but that.'

Annabeth looked confused, but she shook her head. "I'd guess it's some kind of conical tower. There's only one way to know for sure."

"Ask the builder." I gazed up at the remnant of the thirtieth floor.

The man on the ledge hadn't moved, but he'd gotten bigger. Red light swirled around him. That was never good. In silhouette, he looked like he was wearing a tall angular top hat like Abe Lincoln.

I shouldered her backpack. "So, if that's our mystery god, where's the–"

A three-part howl cut through the storm. At the opposite end of the building, a set of metal doors burst open and the crab hybrid loped inside.

Unfortunately, the beast now had all three heads – wolf, lion and dog. Its long spiral shell glowed with Greek and hieroglyphic inscriptions. Completely ignoring the flying debris, the monster clambered inside on its six forelegs, then leaped into the air. The storm carried it upward, spiralling through the chaos.

"It's heading for its master," Annabeth said. "We have to stop it."

"Lovely," I grumbled. "This is going to drain me."

"What will?"

I raised my staff. " _N'dah_."

A golden hieroglyph blazed in the air above us, and we were surrounded in a sphere of light.

Annabeth looked startled. "This will shield us from the storm?" she asked.

"Hopefully." beads of sweat dotted my face. "Come on."

I led the way up the steps.

Immediately, my shield was put to the test. A flying kitchen counter would have decapitated us, but it shattered against the force field. Chunks of marble swirled harmlessly around us.

"Brilliant," I said. I turned to Annabeth. "Now, hold the staff while I turn into a bird."

"Wait. What?"

I rolled her eyes. "We're thinking on our feet, remember? I'll fly up there and stop the staff monster. You try to distract that god… whoever he is. Get his attention."

"Fine, but I'm no magician. I can't maintain a spell."

"The shield will hold for a few minutes, as long as you use the staff.'

"But what about you? If you're not inside the shield–"

"I have an idea. It might even work."

I fished a _Shabti_ out of my backpack, and curled my fingers around it. I breathed in deeply, and began to change form.

My nose expanded into a beak and my hair and clothes and backpack melted into a sleek coat of feathers. I had become a kite, a small bird of prey. With the little figurine still clutched in my talons, I spread my wings and launched myself into the storm, slipping into the duat.

A cluster of bricks came at me, but I didn't flinch, and they went right through me. I couldn't see Annabeth anymore, but I assumed she was ok, since I could hear her yelling at the god.

The shell of the building started to groan. Mortar trickled from the walls and swirled into the mix like candy-floss tufts.

I was getting closer to the monster. The beast was about halfway to the top now, flailing its legs and glowing ever more brightly, as if soaking up the power of the tornado. _Almost there_ , I thought.

I heard Annabeth's voice above the storm. "SERAPIS!"

The storm slowed, and I could see the god, Serapis, clearly now. He was fifteen feet tall, and he wore only a pair of swimming trunks in a Hawaiian floral pattern. His body rippled with muscles. His bronze skin was covered in shimmering tattoos of hieroglyphs, Greek letters and other languages I didn't know. His face was framed with long, nappy hair like Rastafarian dreadlocks. A curly Greek beard grew down to his collarbone. His eyes were sea green. He was kind of like an ancient egyptian pirate. The wicker basket on his head that was covered in pansies.

Confused now that the storm had stopped, the three-headed monster tried to stand. I swooped overhead, opened my talons and dropped my _shabti_ , which instantly grew into a full-sized camel named Humphrey.

Humphrey slammed into the monster's back. Both creatures tumbled out of the air and crashed to the floor in a tangle of limbs and heads. The staff monster continued to struggle, but Humphrey lay on top of it with his legs splayed, bleating and spitting and basically going limp like a thousand-pound toddler throwing a tantrum.

"WHO DARES INTERRUPT MY TRIUMPHAL RISE?" Serapis boomed.

"I do!" yelled Annabeth. "Come down and face me!"

I was impressed. It took guts to invite a god to face you like that.

Serapis leaped from his ledge, plummeting thirty stories and landing on the floor in front of Annabeth. She took in his appearance, her eyes landing on the basket.

"Excuse me," she said. "Is that a flowerpot on your head?"

Serapis raised his bushy brown eyebrows. He patted his head as if he'd forgotten about the basket. A few wheat seeds spilled from the top. '"That's a modius, silly girl. It's one of my holy symbols! The grain basket represents the Underworld, which I control."

I frowned. Last I'd checked, he didn't control the underworld.

"Uh, you do?"

"Of course! Or I did, and soon I will again." that didn't sound good. "But who are you to criticize my fashion choices? A Greek demigod, by the smell of you, carrying a Celestial bronze weapon and an Egyptian staff from the House of Life. Which are you – hero or magician?"

I landed behind serapis, and changed back into a human. I looked at annabeth, and put my finger to my lips, then rolled my hand. Hoping she'd gotten the message, I rooted quietly through my bag.

Annabeth's voice rang out confidentially. "Who says I'm not both – magician and demigod? Now, explain why you're here!"

There was silence, then Serapis laughed. "I see! Trying to impress me, eh? You think yourself worthy of being my high priestess?"

I didn't know what the was, but I didn't have time to think about it. I blocked out the conversation and concentrated on my goal. Soon I'd found what I was looking for.

I pulled out my chalk, and started to draw. I heard Serapis say he needed his staff, and scribbled more quickly. I hoped Annabeth would be able to keep him distracted long enough for me to finish my drawing.

Soon I had drawn a circle, and I began drawing different hieroglyphs in different colors. "Come on," I hissed.

"Now, my lord,'" Annabeth's voice said. "Tell me your glorious plan! Something about souls and lives?"

The staff howled, and I saw it glaring at me angrily. It howled again, probably trying to warn its master about me. But Serapis didn't notice.

"Behold! The new center of my power!"

"A lighthouse," Annabeth said. "The Lighthouse of Alexandria."

"Indeed, my young priestess." Serapis paced back and forth, his wicker-basket hat kept tilting to one side or the other, spilling grain. "Alexandria!" he cried. "Once the greatest city in the world, the ultimate fusion of Greek and Egyptian power! I was its supreme god, and now I have risen again. I will create my new capital here!"

"Uh … in Rockaway Beach?"

Serapis stopped and scratched his beard. "You have a point. That name won't do. We will call it… Rockandria? Serapaway? Well, we'll figure that out later! Our first step is to complete my new lighthouse. It will be a beacon to the world – drawing the deities of Ancient Greece and Egypt here to me just as it did in the old days. I shall feed on their essence and become the most powerful god of all!" a jumped a little, but kept drawing. I didn't have good experiences with god's being devoured. Last time it had happened, I'd almost lost my friend Bes.

"Feed on their essence. You mean, destroy them?" Annabeth sounded as horrified as me.

Serapis waved dismissively. "Destroy is such an ugly word. I prefer incorporate. You know my history, I hope? When Alexander the Great conquered Egypt –"

"He tried to merge the Greek and Egyptian religions," Annabeth said.

"Tried and failed." Serapis chuckled. "Alexander chose an Egyptian sun god, Amun, to be his main deity. That didn't work too well. The Greeks didn't like Amun. Neither did the Egyptians of the Nile Delta. They saw Amun as an upriver god. But when Alexander died his general took over Egypt."

"Ptolemy the First," Annabeth said. She was turning out to be as much as a history nut as Carter. But at least she was pretty cool.

I finished my drawing. I tapped the hieroglyphs, murmuring under my breath.

The three-headed staff monster snarled in disapproval. It tried to lunge forward, and Annabeth barely managed to hold him back. I hoped she could hold on just a little longer.

"Ptolemy created a new god," Annabeth said, voice straining. "He created you."

Serapis shrugged. "Well, not from scratch. I was once a minor village god. Nobody had even heard of me! But Ptolemy discovered my statue and brought it to Alexandria. He had the Greek and Egyptian priests do auguries and incantations and whatnot. They all agreed that I was the great god Serapis, and I should be worshipped above all other gods. I was an instant hit!"

I rose within my circle, and unlatching my tyet amulet, I swung it it like a lasso.

The three-headed monster roared what was probably a warning to its master: Look out!

But Serapis ignored it, glowing brightly. Gods tended to get distracted when they were talking about themselves.

"I became the most important god of the Greeks and Egyptians!" Serapis yelled. "As more people worshipped me, I drained the power of the older gods. Slowly but surely, I took their place. The Underworld? I became its master, replacing both Hades and Osiris. The guard dog Cerberus transformed into my staff, which you now hold. His three heads represent the past, present and future – all of which I will control when the staff is returned to my grasp."

I kept swinging my pendant, muttering the incantation. Annabeth was looking frustrated. I caught her gaze, and mouthed, _hold on. Just a few seconds._

Annabeth gritted her teeth. "The Ptolemaic dynasty… It fell centuries ago. Your cult was forgotten. How is it that you're back now?"

Serapis sniffed. "That's not important. The one who awakened me… well, he has delusions of grandeur. He thinks he can control me just because he found some old spells in the Book of Thoth."

I flinched. The Book of Thoth. The person, or rather, the _ghost_ with the book of thoth… if he had brought Serapis around, then this was a lot more serious then I thought."

"You see," Serapis continued, "back in the day, King Ptolemy decided it wasn't enough to make me a major god. He wanted to become immortal, too. He declared himself a god, but his magic backfired. After his death, his family was cursed for generations. The Ptolemaic line grew weaker and weaker until that silly girl Cleopatra committed suicide and gave everything to the Romans."

The god sneered. "Mortals… always so greedy. The magician who awakened me this time thinks he can do better than Ptolemy. Raising me was only one of his experiments with hybrid Greek-Egyptian magic. He wishes to make himself a god, but he has overstepped himself. I am awake now. I will control the universe."

He stared down at Annabeth. "Just think, little demigod." "This lighthouse will draw the gods to me like moths to a candle. Once I have consumed their power, I will raise a great city. I will build a new Alexandrian library with all the knowledge of the ancient world, both Greek and Egyptian. As a child of Athena, you should appreciate this. As my high priestess, think of all the power you will have!"

Annabeth looked wary but eager. Serapis must have seen it.

"Yes." He extended his hand. "Enough talk, girl. Give me my staff!"

"You're right," Annabeth croaked. "Enough talk."

She drew her dagger and plunged it into the monster's shell.

Serapis bellowed, "TREACHERY!"

I cast my spell, flinging my pendant and yelling, " _Tyet!_ "

The pendant exploded. A giant silvery hieroglyph enveloped the god like a see-through coffin.

Serapis roared as his arms were pinned to his side.

I shouted. "I name you Serapis, god of Alexandria! God of… uh, funny hats and three-headed staffs! I bind you with the power of Isis!"

Debris began falling out of the air, crashing around us. The I saw Annabeth lunge at the staff, only to get smacked in the head by a falling piece of timber. She was immediately buried in more debris. The debris rumbled, and annabeth crawled out. She was tougher then I thought.

Serapis flexed his muscles, and the silvery coffin shattered around him. The three-headed staff flew into his hand, and he turned on me.

my protective circle evaporated in a cloud of red steam.

"You would bind me?" Serapis cried. "You would name me? You do not even have the proper language to name me, little magician!"

I stood my ground defiantly. "Right, Lord Cereal Bowl. You want proper language? HA-DI!"

The hieroglyph for _destroy_ flashed in Serapis's face, but the god swiped it out of the air with his free hand. He closed his fist and smoke shot between his fingers, as if he'd just crushed a miniature steam engine.

I gulped. "That's impossible. How –"

"Expecting an explosion?" Serapis laughed. "Sorry to disappoint you, child, but my power is both Greek and Egyptian. It combines both, consumes both, replaces both. You are favoured of Isis, I see? Excellent. She was once my wife."

"What?" I cried. "No. No, no, no."

"Oh, yes! When I deposed both Osiris and Zeus, Isis was forced to serve me. Now I will use you as a gateway to summon her here and bind her. Isis will once again be my queen!"

I was disgusted. Isis had never mentioned this upstart god. Probably because she was just as disgusted as me.

Serapis thrust out his staff. From each of the three monstrous mouths, red tendrils of light shot forth, encircling me like thorny branches. I screamed loudly.

Annabeth grabbed a of plywood. "Hey, Grain Head!" she yelled loudly.

She twisted from the waist, using the force of her entire body. The plywood sailed through the air just as Serapis turned to look at her, and the edge smacked him between the eyes.

"GAH!" Serapis cried out.

Annabeth dived to one side as Serapis blindly thrust his staff in her direction. The three monster heads blasted super-heated plumes of vapour, melting a hole in the concrete where Annabeth had just been standing.

Annabeth kept moving, avoiding every blast that was aimed at her.

I got to my feet. staggering away from Serapis, I prayed he wouldn't see me.

"Hey, Serapis!" Annabeth called from behind a mountain of commodes. "How did that plywood taste?"

"Child of Athena!" the god bellowed. "I will devour your life force! I will use you to destroy your wretched mother! You think you are wise? You are nothing compared to the one who awakened me, and even he does not understand the power he has unleashed. None of you shall gain the crown of immortality. I control the past, present and future. I alone will rule the gods!"

While he'd been talking, I'd made it behind a pile of some kind of trash only ten feet from Serapis. I popped up and yelled, " _Suh-FAH!"_

Mortar disintegrated. The side of the building groaned, and as Serapis screamed, "NO!" the entire wall collapsed on top of him in a brick tidal wave, burying him under a thousand tons of wreckage.

I collapsed to the ground. Annabeth staggered to my side, and i gaped at the hole I'd made in the wall.

"That worked," I muttered.

"It was genius." Annabeth squeezed my shoulders. "What spell was that?"

"Loosen," I said. "I reckoned… well, making things fall apart is usually easier than putting them together."

As if in agreement, the remaining shell of the building creaked and rumbled.

"Come on." Annabeth took my hand. "We need to get out of here. These walls –"

The foundations shook. From beneath the rubble came a muffled roar. Shafts of red light shot from gaps in the debris.

"Oh, please!" I protested. "He's still alive?"

Annabeth sighed, not seeming surprised. "He's a god. He's immortal."

"Well, then how–?"

Serapis's hand, still clutching his staff, thrust through the bricks and boards. The monster's three heads blasted shafts of steam in all directions. Annabeth's knife remained hilt-deep in the monster's shell, the scar round it venting red-hot hieroglyphs, Greek letters and English curse words– thousands of years of bad language spilling free.

Annabeth's face lit up. "Past, present and future. He controls them all."

"What?" I asked.

"The staff is the key," Annabeth said. "We have to destroy it."

"Yes, but–"

Annabeth sprinted towards the pile of rubble, her eyes fixed on the hilt of her dagger. But she was too late.

Serapis's other arm broke free, then his head, his flower-basket hat crushed and leaking grain. Annabeth's plywood Frisbee had broken his nose and blackened his eyes, leaving a mask like a raccoon's.

"Kill you!" he bellowed. I didn't give him a chance, yelling an encore of " _Suh-FAH_!"

Annabeth retreated, and Serapis screamed, "NO!" as another thirty-storey section of wall collapsed on top of him.

I crumpled to the ground, and Annabeth caught me just before my head hit the ground. As the remaining sections of wall shuddered and leaned inward, Annabeth scooped me up and carried me outside, but I could hardly feel her arms around me. My vision slipped into darkness.

My eyes shot open, and I saw Anubis standing in front of me. He looked worried. "Sadie, are you alright?"

I managed a small smirk. "Do we always have to meet when I'm about to die?"

Anubis laughed a little. "Yea, you're alright." then he turned serious again. "Sadie, you almost burned up. You won't be able to do huge magic for awhile. Now you have to wake up." Anubis leaned forward and kissed my forehead. "Good luck, Sadie. I love you."

Anubis faded, and I breathed in sharply. My eyes fluttered open, and I spat a chip of concrete out of my mouth. I sat up weakly and stared at the column of dust churning into the sky.

"Right. What should we destroy next?"

Annabeth sobbed in relief. "Thank the gods you're okay. You were literally steaming."

"Hazard of the trade." I brushed some dust off my face. "Too much magic and I can literally burn up. That's about as close to self-immolation as I'd like to come today."

Annabeth nodded. "No more magic for you."

"Not for a while." I grimaced, remembering what Anubis had said. "I don't suppose Serapis is defeated?"

Annabeth gazed at the demolished building we'd come out of. "We've got a few minutes at best," she guessed. "He'll work his way free. Then he'll come after us."

I groaned. "We need reinforcements. Sadly, I don't have enough energy to open a portal, even if I could find one. Isis isn't responding to me, either. She knows better than to show up and have her essence absorbed by Lord Cereal Bowl." I sighed. "I don't suppose you have any other demigods on speed dial?"

"If only…" Annabeth faltered, taking her backpack from her shoulder and opening it. Her lower lip trembled, and she pulled out a battered blue New York Yankees cap. She glanced up at the darkening sky. "Mom?" no one replied, but Annabeth's eyes were filled with gratitude.

"It's a baseball cap," I noted. "Is that good?"

"I– I think so," Annabeth said. "The last time I wore it, the magic didn't work. But if it does… I might have a plan. It'll be your turn to keep Serapis distracted."

I frowned. "Did I mention I'm out of magic?"

"That's okay," Annabeth said. "How are you at bluffing, lying and trash-talking?"

I raised an eyebrow. "I've been told those are my most attractive qualities."

"Excellent," Annabeth said. "Then it's time I taught you some Greek."

…

Annabeth had barely finished coaching me when the ruined building shook, debris exploded outward, and Serapis emerged, roaring and cursing.

Startled emergency workers scattered from the scene, but they didn't seem to notice the fifteen-foot-tall god marching away from the wreckage, his three-headed staff spewing steam and red beams of magic into the sky.

Serapis headed straight in our direction.

"Ready?" Annabeth asked me.

I exhaled. "Do I have a choice?"

"Here." Annabeth gave me a square of something. "Demigod food. It might restore your strength."

"Might, eh?"

"If I can use your healing potion, you should be able to eat ambrosia."

"Cheers, then." I took a bite, the taste of my gran's scones flooding my tongue. I perked up, feeling much better. "Tastes like my gran's scones."

Annabeth smiled. "Ambrosia always tastes like your favourite comfort food."

"That's a shame." I took another bite and swallowed. "Gran's scones are always burnt and rather horrid." I spotted serapis. "Ah– here comes our friend."

Serapis kicked a fire engine out of his way and lumbered towards the train tracks. He didn't seem to see us, but he probably knew we were there, because he was scanning the horizon, his expression full of murderous rage.

"Here we go." Annabeth donned her Yankees cap, and disappeared.

My eyes widened. "Well done. You're quite invisible. You won't start shooting sparks, will you?"

'Why would I do that?'

"Oh…" I flashed back to the last time Carter had tried to make an invisibility shield. "My brother cast an invisibility spell once. Didn't work out so well. Anyway, good luck."

"You, too."

Annabeth dashed to one side, and I waved my arms around yelling, "Oi, Serapis!"

"DEATH TO YOU!" the god bellowed.

He barrelled forward, his massive feet making craters in the tarmac.

I backed towards the beach, keeping my eyes on the Serapis. "Come on!" I taunted. "Is that the fastest you can run, you overgrown village idiot?"

"RAR!" the god charged me, and raised his staff. "Any last words, magician?"

'For you? Yes!' I whirled my arms around, pretending like I was performing a spell.

" _Meana aedei thea!_ " I chanted the greek words Annabeth had taught me. "En…" I hesitated for a second before continuing. " _Ponte pathen algae!_ " no, that wasn't right. Fortunately, the sound of Ancient Greek was enough to shock Serapis. The god wavered, his three-headed staff still raised. "What are you–"

"Isis, hear me!" I continued, not giving him a chance to speak. "Athena, to my aid!" I rattled off more phrases – some Greek, some Ancient Egyptian. "Alpha, beta, gamma!' I cried. "Gyros, spanakopita. Presto!" I beamed in triumph. "There. You're done for!"

Serapis stared at me, baffled. The red tattoos on his skin dimmed. A few of the symbols turned into question marks and sad faces. I tended to do that to people.

"Done for?" Serapis asked. "What on earth are you talking about, girl? I'm about to destroy you."

"And if you do," I warned, "you will activate the death link that sends you to oblivion!"

"Death link? There is no such thing!" Serapis lowered his staff. Yea, I lied. There was no such thing as a death link that would kill Serapis if he killed me. But Serapis didn't know that.

I spoke again, my voice getting harder. "My mother, Ruby Kane, she gave her life to seal Apophis in the Duat. _Apophis_ , mind you – who is thousands of years older than you and much more powerful. So if you think I'm going to let a second-rate god take over the world, think again," I yelled. I wasn't faking the anger. If my mum could take Apophis down, then I could certainly handle a god wearing a flower pot as a hat!.

Serapis shifted his weight uneasily. "I will destroy you!"

"Good luck," I said smugly. "I've bound you with Greek and Egyptian spells so powerful they will scatter your atoms to the stars."

"You lie!" Serapis yelled. "I feel no spell upon me. Even the one who summoned me had no such magic."

I laughed. "The one who summoned you? You mean that old con artist Setne?"

Serapis didn't like that. The air around us crackled with heat, and the wolf and lion on his staff snarled angrily.

"Oh, yes," I continued. "I'm very familiar with Setne. I suppose he didn't tell you who let him back into the world. He's only alive because _I_ spared him. You think _his_ magic is powerful? Try me. Do it NOW," I yelled, trying to get Annabeth to do her part of the plan. My bluffing skills were fantastic, but Serapis wouldn't fall for it forever.

Sure enough, he sneered. "Nice try, magician."

The god raised his staff to strike, and I saw Annabeth's dagger come out of the staff's shell, floating in midair.

"What?" Serapis cried.

I heard a sob, and the dagger plunged into the dog's neck. I expected the dagger to be pulled back out by Annabeth's invisible hand, but instead it was sucked into the dog's neck.

The dog howled, shrinking and shrivelling until it imploded into the monster's shell. Serapis roared. He shook his scepter but he couldn't seem to let go of it.

"What have you done?" he cried.

"Taken your future," Annabeth's voice said. "Without that, you're nothing."

The staff cracked open, and the lion and wolf heads were sucked into the shell. The entire staff collapsed into a red fireball in the god's palm.

Serapis tried to shake it off. It only glowed brighter. His fingers curled inward. His hand was consumed. His entire arm contracted and vaporized as it was drawn into the fiery sphere.

"I cannot be destroyed!" Serapis yelled. "I am the pinnacle of your worlds combined! Without my guidance, you will never attain the crown! You all shall perish! You shall –"

The fireball flared and sucked the god into its vortex. Then it winked out as if it had never existed.

…

I sat with Annabeth on a hill overlooking the ocean. Annabeth took a deep breath.

"I wish I had something to drink," she commented.

I smiled. "Coming right up!" I chirped.

Annabeth looked confused. "What do you-"

"Shh," I said. "I have to concentrate to get stuff out of my personal storage area.

"Personal-?"

I blocked out her voice, reaching my hand into the duat and wrapping my fingers around the necks of two bottles. Pulling them out, I handed one to Annabeth. "There you go. It's a british ribena. Best drink in the world.

Annabeth looked wary, but accepted the bottle, taking a drink. Her eyes brightened a little. "It's good," she said. Then she looked worried. "But I thought you couldn't perform any more magic without burning up?"

"Don't worry," I assured her. "Summoning snacks isn't hard magic."

Annabeth visually seemed to look better. I felt better to. Annabeth's ambrosia worked wonders.

Annabeth took another drink of her ribena, and then spoke again. 'You mentioned a name. Setne?"

I wrinkled my nose. "Long story. Evil magician, back from the dead."

A look of understanding flashed across Annabeth's face. "Oh, I hate it when evil people come back from the dead. You said… you allowed him to go free?"

I sighed. "Well, my brother and I needed his help. At the time, we didn't have much choice. At any rate, Setne escaped with the Book of Thoth, the most dangerous collection of spells in the world."

"And Setne used that magic to awaken Serapis."

"Stands to reason." I shrugged. "The crocodile monster my brother and your boyfriend fought a while ago, the Son of Sobek… I wouldn't be surprised if that was another of Setne's experiments. He's trying to combine Greek and Egyptian magic."

"Setne wants to be a god," Annabeth said.

The wind off the water suddenly turned cold. It smelled less like fresh sea air, more like burning ruins.

"A god…" I shuddered. "That scrawny old codger with the loincloth and Elvis hair. What a horrible thought." I couldn't imagine anyone hosting that guy.

"If Setne's goal is immortality," Annabeth said, obviously deciding to ignore the comment about Setne. "waking Serapis won't be his last trick."

I laughed dryly. "Oh, no. He's only playing with us now. The Son of Sobek… Serapis. I'd wager that Setne planned both events just to see what would happen, how the demigods and magicians would react. He's testing his new magic, and our capabilities, before he makes his real bid for power."

"He can't succeed," Annabeth said hopefully. "No one can make themselves a god just by casting a spell."

I wasn't sure about that. "I hope you're right. Because a god who knows both Greek and Egyptian magic, who can control both worlds… I can't even imagine." even though our meeting had turned out ok, not everyone could handle this.

Annabeth dug her toes into the sand. "Serapis said something else before he disappeared– _you will never attain the crown._ I thought he meant it like a metaphor. Then I remembered what he said about Ptolemy I, the king who tried to become a god–"

"The crown of immortality," I recalled. "Maybe a _pschent_."

Annabeth frowned. "I don't know that word. A _shent_?"

I spelled it for her. "An Egyptian crown, looks rather like a bowling pin. Not a lovely fashion statement, but the _pschent_ invested the pharaoh with his divine power. If Setne is trying to re-create the old king's god-making magic, I bet five quid and a plate of Gran's burnt scones that he's trying to find the crown of Ptolemy."

'We have to stop him," Annabeth said.

"Right." I sipped my Ribena. "I'll go back to Brooklyn House. After I smack my brother for not confiding in me about you demigod types, I'll put our researchers to work and see what we can learn about Ptolemy. Perhaps his crown is sitting in a museum somewhere." I curled her lip. "Though I do hate museums."

Annabeth traced her finger through the sand, drawing the hieroglyphic symbol for Isis: the tyet. "I'll do some research, too. My friends in the Hecate cabin may know something about Ptolemy's magic. Maybe I can get my mom to advise me."

The _tyet_ symbol in the sand reminded me that Serapis had wanted to use me and Annabeth as a gateway to summon Isis and Athena to their doom. And make Isis his wife. That part still bugged me.

"We can't let Setne keep experimenting. He'll rip our worlds apart. We have to find this crown, or–" I glanced at the sky and my voice faltered. "Ah, my ride is here." my family's boat was carefully descending towards the beach.

Annabeth turned, looking startled. But she calmed down as the boat settled gently at the edge of the surf.

I rose and brushed the sand off my pants, then turned to Annabeth. "Give you a lift home?"

Annabeth looked awkward. "Um, it's okay. I can make it back."

"'Suit yourself." I shouldered my pack, then helped Annabeth up. "You say Carter drew a hieroglyph on your boyfriend's hand. All well and good, but I'd rather stay in touch with you directly."

Annabeth smirked. "You're right. Can't trust boys to communicate."

we exchanged cell-phone numbers.

"Just don't call unless it's urgent," Annabeth warned. "Cell-phone activity attracts monsters."

I looked at her in surprise. "Really? Never noticed. I suppose I shouldn't send you any funny-face selfies on Instagram, then."

"Probably not."

"Well, until next time." I threw my arms around Annabeth, hugging her tightly.

Annabeth stiffened, but then relaxed and patted my shoulder. "Stay safe."

"Hardly ever." I climbed into the boat, and it pushed out to sea. Fog rose out of nowhere, thickening around the vessel. Soon, I couldn't see Annabeth anymore.

I pondered what had happened over the last few hours. So Setne was back. That wasn't good, but at least I knew that Carter and I had two allies to help out. Annabeth, and her boyfriend, Percy.

The boat came to a stop outside the brooklyn house, and I hopped off, waving to the balls of light hovering around the deck. The boat pulled away, and I marched into the brooklyn house.

I came to the living room, and scanned it till I saw Carter. He was just waking up from my Hah-ri spell, and he still looked dazed. I stomped across the floor, grabbing Carter by his ear and pulling him into my room. Once we go there, i dropped him on the floor.

He looked up at me in confusion and irritation, and if I wasn't mistaken, embarrassment. "Sadie! What was that for?"

I crossed my arms. "You have a lot of explaining to do, mister."

…

 **I know, some scenes don't seem like there through Sadie's POV, but I did my best. ^_^ Also, it is considerably shorter then the original. Thats because Sadie doesn't plan and think nearly as much as Annabeth, or have the memories of things that happened in annabeth's life. I couldn't find a good replacement, so I just cut them out. I hope you enjoyed it anyway!**


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